In my eyes Alice Oseman can do no wrong. I fell in love with her writing when I read Radio Silence at the beginning of the year so to say that I went into this book with exceptionally high expectations would be an understatement. All I can say is that I was not disappointed.

Solitaire is the unflinchingly honest story of Tori Springs: pessimist, blogger, teenager. Tori is exceptionally pessimistic in every sense of the word, preferring to spend her time alone where possible and with the comfort of her blog. Tori has friends but whether or not she actually likes them depends very much on how she feels at the time. That is until Michael Holden arrives and there's something about him that even Tori can't block out.

The first thing I need to point out is that as well as being a human being, I am also a high school teacher. I think this makes a world of difference when reading a book like this sometimes. Not only can I relate to some of Tori's deepest emotions and feelings on a personal level but I instantly made connections between her and teenagers that I know and work with. That certainly makes this a special read for me.

Oseman perfectly captured for me how so many teenagers feel about themselves and school these days. So many of them despise the school environment and prefer to be at home on the other end of a digital device where they feel they can truly be themselves. This is one of the many issues and benefits to social media. I loved the way that Oseman used Tori's interactions with different characters to show different aspects of her personality. We saw the teenage frustration directed towards her parents, the ups and downs of teenage friendship, but for me, her most wonderful moments were those with her brother Charlie.

Solitaire was an exceptionally quick read for me, I just couldn't put it down. This was partly because of the wonderful writing style that Oseman has and partly because I was fascinated by the story and needed to know how it would unfold. Eventually Tori is forced out of her comfort zone when she wants to put an end to Solitaire and what happens is a wonderful, painful truth. Tori is not okay, she doesn't know when she will feel happy or what that feels like, she doesn't know if she wants to be happy, but she now knows there are people she can truly be herself around and that self-acceptance is very important.

'It's weird how you see someone who smiles all the time and you assume that they're happy all the time'

This is another fabulous book from Alice Oseman and if you haven't read her books yet I really urge you to.